Manchester temple robbed for expensive murthi of Lord Subramaniam
A $10,000 deity of Lord Subramaniam was stolen from Gita Bhavan temple, Manchester, UK.The precious bronze-plated, hand-crafted icon was taken soon after an afternoon worship session. The raiders entered by breaking the first entrance, where they then hooked a rope from the door of the living quarters of the priest and a radiator which then locked the priests inside.
April 29th, 2007 at 9:56 pm
A $10,000 deity of Lord Subramaniam was stolen from Gita Bhavan temple, Manchester, UK. ~ ~
Surely, you mean IDOL of Lord ….
Deity cannot have a value.
April 30th, 2007 at 7:51 am
To the thieves its value is a mere £5000 or so. But in reality it is invaluable. However, the statue is only a point for us to focus and pray. We invoke the lord on to that statue. Once it has been desecrated, it has no value really and it is just another piece of ‘collectors item’.The truth will prevail and Subramaniam in one or form will be back in the temple, I am sure. Aum Namah Sivaya
April 30th, 2007 at 9:33 am
I dont know how the police force work in the UK but how assured do the Hindus in UK feel with the police investigation?
-Muski
April 30th, 2007 at 9:48 am
H Ray, u talk alot of nonsense!
here we are all shocked about whats happened and who may be the culprits and you are talking out of your rear end. . The present state of security at Mandirs is unacceptable.
April 30th, 2007 at 9:50 am
Muski, in reply to your question….not happy with police investigations, and what exactly is a door to door check going to reveal, the police are useless.
April 30th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
Not sure what else the police can do apart from question a few people and take fingerprints from the scene. Bear in mind they deal with robberies/burglaries frequently on a daily basis. My house got burgled once and that’s all they could do.
April 30th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
Iv been to the gita Bhawan and like othe mandirs they need to install shutters into the shrines during non-dharshan times
May 1st, 2007 at 12:09 pm
Just a few observations..
1. As I understand it, both the mandir and the donor of the murti in question were quite keen that this story was not made public; it is a shame that certain individuals have no sense of privacy or respect and publicise anything and everything for the purposes of their own individual reputation and standing amongst the white mainstream. Those who know either the mandir in question or the history of this story’s initial publication in the press will know exactly what I’m talking about.
2. It is worth pointing out that despite the police being called immediately on the Friday of the incident, no police officer even visited the mandir until the following Wednesday, i.e. 5 days later. I agree that there is a limited amount that the police can actually do in such cases, but surely taking five days to even view the crime scene cannot possibly help. Incidentally, I understand that this is the second large burglary from this mandir’s premises, the first being some 5 years ago or so, when approximately £6000 in cash was stolen; as I understand it, the police response at that time also was as expected. The police may well come across robberies/burglaries on a daily basis, but to say they actually ‘deal with’ anything is perhaps overstating the case.
3. Regarding shutters and the like, firstly, I assume the above poster does not mean to blame the victim for the crime? And secondly, being so familiar with that mandir, surely he is well aware that there are iron gates at the car park entrance, the building entrance and the mandir hall entrance; however, whilst the pandit and his wife were trapped behind the forcibly shut door, the thief/thieves actually sawed through the locks of the mandir hall gates to gain entry and commit their crime. As for why the outer gates were open, this was after all the middle of the afternoon; life goes on.
May 1st, 2007 at 9:49 pm
Security camera’s in all our Mandirs has become essential, as they would act as a deterent and also if a crime was commited then they would help as proof. Gita Bhavan is plagued by being in a muslim dominated area so camera’s are absolutely crucial. I hope whoever stole our Murthi is caught quick!
May 2nd, 2007 at 1:09 pm
Respect and shardha for God/gods /godesses is so deep in the hearts of we Hindus that we never loose heart by the presence or non-presence of an idol. The theif may be ignorant and be a money hungry. God Bless him and releave him of this ignorance/sin and illumine his mind with true divine jiyoti. Hari motwani-Karachi-Pakistan.
May 2nd, 2007 at 1:29 pm
hang on minute ……Deity worship is different from idol worship….pls do not confuse both……
Deity is the embodiment of the gods into the material used, these are invoked through mantras, offerings , prayer and invitation to enter into the diety image. These dieties are made to specific dimensions through shastras and vedic rules. dieites are used as a path to this world to spritual world , the dieity sees us , we see the dieity.
Hinduism , buddhism , jainism and many other tribal beliefs use many forms of loving the diety …hinduism is unique in making dieity happy through means of dance , singing , music, fragrance , offerings and even sacrifices.
idols are mere statues that have no specific control or rules ……..people do worship these in many forms but Hindu’s do NOT !!!!
We see the pleasure in darshan , viewing the deitiy ….Vaisnava tradition is unique that it gives a sensational experience both to the devotee and diety. No other religion can compete with the full sensual experience ,,,,the trance like effect and musical rythem that infleunces the whole body. Hinduism is unique in the fact that the dieites become one with devotee and the devotee begins to own the god ….washing , serving , and pleqsing the dieity .
The theives will feel remorse as they will get what is comin gto them !!!!!
warning they will pay ……….our diety is loving they will forgive.
murugan ki jai
May 2nd, 2007 at 2:52 pm
H Ray what do mean by the murti was an idol pls explain????